Okay, we're about to look at ten pictures of my midsection, and I need to make sure that you're alright with that. You said you didn't mind if we talked about pregnancy-related stuff for a little while, so I thought I'd take you up on it and share with you my ever-expanding girth, which I have been photographing since week 9 like every other elated first-time mother-to-be with a camera and an internet connection.

Side note: can you imagine our grandmothers' generation taking belly shots? I simply cannot. And our great-grandmothers' generation....well, let's just say that my mother once told me that her mother was banned from using the phrase "district nurse" around her parents when she was a child because it was deemed entirely too naughty. Why? Well, the district nurse is the person who'd show up at your home when someone in it was about to give birth. And since giving birth is what happens at the end of pregnancy and pregnancy was considered an entirely unsuitable topic for public conversation—especially among children—"district nurse" was the sort of scandalous term that made my grandmother and her brothers giggle uncontrollably when someone dared to whisper it.

Fast forward to 2013 when I'm about to tell you about all the different times I threw up in the first trimester!

I know weekly pregnancy updates on a blog are a little bit of a cliche, and I swear on my life that you can lock me in a room that plays only Gangnam Style on repeat and/or mail me a severed goat's head—whichever you think would be more offensive—the minute I start talking as though I'm the first person in the world to ever be pregnant, but I hope you won't mind indulging me a little bit if I try to keep a record here of how I'm feeling each week. This is such a weird and exciting time in my life, and I don't want to forget a single second.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I was only five weeks along, and I felt pretty much the same as I always did. I was a little more tired, sure, and I may have got irationally angry at Sean for something I can't even remember now (like, so angry, at four o'clock in the morning, stewing there silently in bed), but for the most part I didn't feel particularly different at all. Apart from one thing: I suddenly abhorred coffee.

Now, I've always been a one-cup-in-the-morning sort of gal, maybe another mid-morning if I'm flagging, but suddenly I did not even want to think about coffee at all. (This has continued right up until this day, by the way, and has totally rendered the existential "will I give up coffee?" debate that had been raging in my head before I got pregnant completely null and void. Which was sort of useful, I have to say, even though I had pretty much already decided on "no." Luckily, I've had no such aversions to the peyote yet, so I've continued doing that right up until this day.)

(JOKE, DON'T CALL THE COPS.)

Apart from the coffee and the tiredness, I felt pretty much entirely normal—so normal that I worried something was actually wrong—until about six and a half weeks, when I became suddenly and immediately sickened by the very thought of vegetables. And I mean the very thought. If I suddenly called to mind, say, what a roasted brussel sprout might look like, I would have to have a quick lie-down on the nearest horizontal surface. Every time I passed the salad bar at work, I would need to immediately look away. On my first night home during the Christmas holidays, when I hadn't yet told my family my news, my mother made a huge dish of brightly-colored roasted vegetables with couscous and chicken, and I am still pretty surprised that I didn't win an Oscar on Sunday night along with Anne Hathaway for the show I put on while pretending to enjoy them.

Here is a picture of me at 9 weeks, the first time I thought I looked pregnant enough to start documenting it. HAHAHAHA oh my god, Ihave no idea what is coming.

If you have been through the first trimester, you know that it is very strange. Very, very strange indeed. You feel constantly queasy and nauseous—at least I did—and the only thing that makes it better is if you eat. But there's nothing you want to eat! You need to keep your tummy full, so that you don't spill the contents into the nearest receptacle, but nothing at all sounds good. Everything, in fact, sounds terrible. If you don't eat, you feel like you're going to barf, but when you try and think about what you might want to eat, everything makes you want to barf anyway.

The first key, I think, is to eat whatever sounds even vaguely appealing to you in the moment, even if you've already eaten it for your last seven meals. The second key is to embrace the power of bread.

Bread was one of the very few things that made me feel like I might feel slightly better if I ate it, and so I ate a whole crapload of bread. Bagels too, and English muffins, and crackers. Oh, the crackers! I constantly had little packets of crackers in my bag, and little stacks of crackers on my nightstand, and I have vivid memories of waking up in the night, feeling absolutely rotten, and wearily stuffing crackers into my mouth because I knew it would ultimately make me feel well enough to go back to sleep. For the first fifteen weeks of my pregnancy, in a desperate bid to not feel completely wretched every single hour of the day, I ate all the carbs Jennifer Aniston had rejected over the last twenty years of her career.

Along the way, there was a brief whirlwind affair with goat cheese, and another with cornichons—likely the only green thing I consumed the entire time—and there was even one very early jetlagged morning where I lay awake tortured by the idea of what saltines, goat cheese, and cornichons would taste like together, and knew I wouldn't rest until I had roused myself from bed at 4am to discover this for myself (verdict: delicious.) For the most part, however, the first fifteen weeks of my pregnancy were a veritable festival of bread. I also ate a lot of egg salad (preferably on white bread with the crusts cut off or white hot dog buns; this was a very specific craving I suddenly got in Target one day, which was lucky because I was in exactly the right place to buy all of those ingredients), drank a lot of orange juice, and became weirdly enamored of chocolate milk. Looking back, it was kind of like I was having brunch for every single meal of the day. Brunch for a seven-year-old.

As you can imagine, the weirdo eating habits, constant queasiness, and bone-crushing exhaustion made it a really great time to go on an overseas trip.

This is me right before I boarded a plane to Munich, and right after I threw up in the bathroom of the Enterprise Rental CarReturn at Heathrow Airport. This was not my favorite morning.

Now listen, I do not expect you to feel particularly sorry for me just because I felt a little barfy while I was on vacation—I was, after all, on vacation and not laboring in the coal mines or whatever—but I do not advise traveling in the first trimester, if you can help it. We knew it might be a possibility, when we booked our trip back to the UK for my best friend's wedding, but quite frankly, I think I severely underestimated how lousy I would actually feel. When I fell asleep on a public bus—in Berlin, in rush hour traffic, on a stranger's shoulder—I realized that the rather demanding itinerary I'd planned for us a few months before may actually have been too much.

On the upside, I did get to take my 11-week photo right in front of Brandenburg Gate.

While I'd had my first appointment (and my first ultrasound) around 8 and a half weeks—the doctor had walked in, looked at his chart, and said "you folks are here to have a baby!"; Sean had stuttered "well, hopefully not today"—it was at my second appointment that we finally got to hear the baby's heartbeat. I wish I could say something poetic and moving about it—it sounded like the flapping of a thousand tiny angel wings! or something—but if we're honest, it really just kind of sounded like my washing machine when I've put a load of laundry in and am standing right next to it, trying to clean the lint trap on the dryer. Kind of like WHOOSHWHOOSHWHOOSHWHOOSHWHOOSH. Yep, kind of like that.

This was at the doctor's office, right after we'd heard our own little washing machine. Not the most glamorous setting, but hey, some weeks you can take your photo next to Germany's most famous landmark, other weeks you're going to be standing in front of a poster showing you how to do a self breast exam.

Around thirteen weeks, I became suddenly obsessed with grapefruits—eaten as cold as possible—which happened when I was down in San Diego visiting my parents and discovered one that my dad had peeled and left for my mother in the fridge. Does anyone know a good technique for peeling grapefruits, by the way? I'm not very good at it and I'm still averaging about one a day.

Look! My own little baby grapefruit is starting to make an appearance.

Around week 14, I started thinking—prematurely, as it turned out—that I might actually be feeling a little better. The first trimester had given way to the second trimester, after all, and my vomit count was only up to six. Sean was in Colorado for the weekend and, struck by the sudden desire to cook something—to cook vegetables, even—I invited my brother Luke over to dinner. I drove to the grocery store in a haze of happiness and picked out plump carrots and earthy new potatoes and fresh peas and vibrant green leeks. I got home, spent a million hours making a chicken pot pie, and then decided that I didn't want to eat any of it at all. The day after that, I found myself locked in the bathroom stall at work, sobbing my eyes out for absolutely no reason I could determine. Later that evening I started crying again, which soon turned into weeping, which soon turned into the kind of crying where you can't catch your breath because you're shuddering so hard. I cried so much—again, couldn't have told you why if you'd held a gun to my head—that I actually made myself throw up, and so there I was, head down the toilet, simultaneously sobbing and vomiting, and I thought to myself okay, I guess I'm not feeling better after all.

I also thought to myself are you kidding me? This had better be the nadir of this whole goddamn thing.

Week 14: the week you discover the art of bawling while barfing!

And luckily it was. As if by magic, week 15 came and ding!, I felt instantly better. I started craving salads, I started wanting to exercise, and—in a cruel twist of fate not usually associated with such healthy behaviors—I realized that maybe I needed to order one of those stretchy belly band things. It wasn't that I couldn't do up the top button on my jeans; it was just that it felt a whole lot better if I didn't.

I still hadn't told anyone at work at this point, so I just kind of assumed that they all figured I was just letting myself go.

During week 16, when I turned 33, I wore my one and only maternity shirt for the first time—finally I was able to try something on in the Liz Lange maternity section at Target ON PURPOSE and not because I'd just wandered over there accidentally and picked it up because it was cute—and then felt immediately self-conscious about it the entire time and worried that I was going to run into someone from work. Which would have been fairly unlikely, honestly, because we were up in Sonoma for the weekend, a trip Sean surprised me with for my birthday and which I need to tell you about in more detail later because there was one amazing thing he'd planned for us without realizing that pregnant ladies couldn't actually do it.

Not wine tasting, obviously. I think he probably knew I couldn't do that.

In week 17, I actually started wearing my belly band, and immediately deemed it the world's greatest invention ever. Did you know you can wear YOUR PANTS UNZIPPED if you're wearing a belly band? My colleagues certainly do, I'll tell you that. I think I cornered all of them, one by one, and said "Do you know my pants are actually unzipped right now? You didn't even know until Itold you. MY PANTS ARE UNZIPPED UNDER HERE. My pants are unzipped at work."

I expect to be hearing from HR shortly.

And this brings us to week 18, where I am currently languishing and feeling—I have to say—absolutely great. I'm eating totally normally again—although I have a strong hankering for very cold things (smoothies and frozen yogurt, mostly) and very cold, very tangy fruit—and I even seem to be waking up fewer than 39847387 times a night to pee (WHERE DOES ALL THE PEE COME FROM? I mean, that is just not science). I'm still wearing most of my regular clothes—with some belly band help on the more snug items in my wardrobe—and I even think I have maaaaaaaaaybe felt the baby move once or twice while I've been lying awake at night in the stillness and dark, trying my hardest to distinguish it from regular old digestive rumblings.

In fact, there's really only one thing that's particularly notable this week, and that is this: I am suddenly looking very, verypregnant.

Damn, girl! Where'd that thing come from?

More news from week 19 next week—I promise these will be way more cursory going forward; if you managed to read this entire thing in one sitting, I'd like to toast you with this imaginary glass of champagne I keep having guilt-dreams about accidentally drinking—but for now, thank you so much again for all the kind words you've offered so far about my pregnancy. Honestly, this baby doesn't even know how lucky it is to have so many wonderful people wishing it well.

You are so cute! I love reading your week to week. You will like having it to look back on.

Grapefruit--I like to cut them in half, run a knife around the outside, then knife each individual section so it comes our easy with a spoon. If you want to peel it, the best way is to cutoff both ends with a knife, then cut the rind off from top to bottom, skimming it off so you get rid of the rind and the pith. Does that make sense? Kind of like cutting a pineapple. So what you have left is still round, just no rind.

I ate tons of carbs and was so excited when my body started craving veggies again. I always have stopped eating meat and eggs while pregnant, for some reason they made me absolutely ill. Weird how that all works. Glad you are feeling better!

Not surprisingly, your weekly photos are creative and adorable.
You descriptions sound very similar to mine (all.the.carbs. translates for me into lunches of tater tots, and I distinctly remember that 'I feel better, right, its the asecond trimester now, wait, nopee').
One difference is, your airport vomit happened in a bathroom, whereas mine was on the sidewalk outside Logan at 5am. Barely made it into the trash can. Ah well.

Somehow I am just fascinated by it all, as universal as it is. Pregnancy is just so SO wild. A science experiment in your body. I love that it's so bizarre and so utterly normal all at the same time.

Your first trimester sounds similar to mine were--MUST keep food in stomach but NOTHING appeals. I wasn't nauseous so much as fainty, but had the same unexpected aversion to coffee and reliance on crackers.

And I had a similar love of eating/drinking all things icy cold, even through the winter pregnancy. That lasted the whole nine months.

What a lovely recap of your journey so far. Love the numbers idea - did you have the numbers already or bought them for this reason?
Congrats again and it's lovely to read about this stage in your life.

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Kristin Feb 27, 2013

I LOVE reading about pregnancy - having done it twice myself, it still doesn't get old :) It's so different for everyone (well except for bread), that it's fascinating to see how other's experience it. Also, I am done having babies, so it's a bit nostalgic. You look great - have a happy and healthy pregnancy!

9

Jen Allen Feb 27, 2013

So, so soooooo happy for you both Holly! Sending love and best wishes from England! x

You're so cute. I wasn't able to congratulate you properly because by the time I saw the news (by the congratulations on Twitter) there were 45 comments. And you don't follow me on Twitter ... so congratulations!! It's really so exciting and I'll gladly read all the pregnancy posts you want to write.

You failed to mention one other amazing development. Aside from learning to multi-task-barf, and how to get away with wearing your pants unzipped in public, you've mastered the art of SINGLE-HANDED ENORMOUS PAINTED NUMBERS MANIPULATION! Egads, woman, take a bow! On second thought, better not. Your pants might fall down.

I too was impressed by the following: how evenly you are holding the numbers. I was doubly impressed for week 12 you remembered to take the numbers with you to the doctors office and that you always remember to bring the shirt with you wherever you are to take the picture as well. I could never accomplish this. I can't even keep track of my car keys.

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Heather Feb 27, 2013

Oh, yes, the cold fruit obsession. My husband still likes to tell people about the time (13 weeks-ish) he asked if he could share the bowl of red grapes with me. My favorites were canned peaches and pineapple in the refrigerator. And the carbs, too -- for me it was mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. A good helping of one of them at dinner each night and then I could get down some protein, which was helped me feel better overnight. So fun to hear how it's been for you and so happy you are feeling better

I'm all about egg salad when I'm pregnant, too! That and a grilled cheese or hot ham and cheese. The first trimester queasy but need to eat is the weirdest thing ever - you're lucky that bread didn't bloat you immediately like it does me. I wear those belly bands by about week 10.

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Linda Feb 27, 2013

Your post is, as always, wonderfully written. Totally as expected. Today's comments take the cake, however. I've enjoyed reading them as much as the post. You guys are really funny!

Linda - who is confident she could never master the art of perfect lipstick, holding numbers, posing and smiling all at once.

I was pregnant this time last year too! Ahhhh, I remember it well. I can no longer eat boxed Mac N Cheese (a first trimester craving) because it conjures up that awful first trimester feeling!

Don't apologize for the updates! You'll be glad you did them...and, once pregnancy is over, then it's on to monthly baby updates...

Anyway, I'm so excited for you! I didn't particularly enjoy being pregnant and like having the actual baby OUTSIDE of me as opposed to in, but there is something about the anticipation, planning, and the devouring of baby/pregnancy/childbirth books that I feel slightly nostalgic for.

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Therese Feb 27, 2013

This whole post just makes me smile. Not that I'm happy you were tired and vomity but well, just enjoying pregnancy (or at least writing about it in a way that makes it seem not too bad). I too could not stand vegetables during the first trimester of my pregnancies, just horrible. I also enjoyed bread, especially bagels. My greatest craving for both pregnancies was a small coke from the McDonald's drive thru. Man, that was quite possibly the best tasting beverage of my life during that time!

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caleal Feb 27, 2013

Oh my lands, how CUTE is your picture idea of taking them whereever you are? So adorable. Also your hair is looking very pretty and shiny.
I say, bring on all the words about babies! You can't POSSIBLE write more words about babies than we want to read, I am sure.

Do all pregnant women crave bagels? I'm 24 weeks with my first and it's only through sheer willpower that I don't put them in my shopping cart every week. Also, I am continually thankful that my first trimester was "abnormal" in that I was never once sick, nauseous, etc. I seriously don't know how all the ladies that get morning sickness function. I would never want to do it again!
Holly, you are simply adorable and I love reading these updates. The best I can do with weekly photos now that I'm finally showing is a quick snap with an iPhone. My poor future child with have to look at grainy photos shot in the mirror. First mom fail.

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Melissa Feb 27, 2013

Definitely looking pregnant and beautiful. Absolutely beautiful! I'm sorry your first trimester (and early second trimester) were uncomfortable. I had the wonderful good fortune to feel great all throughout both my pregnancies, for which I am extremely grateful. I too craved certain cold things, for example water. If the water wasn't on the verge of forming ice crystals, I couldn't drink it. Looking forward to reading more!

Dang, girl, where DID that come from? Did you just wake up like that one morning? ;) Nah, you're totally tiny and adorable!

Love the updates!

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Crystal Feb 27, 2013

Of course you aren't the first but it's a first for you! You aren't the first person to travel, either, but we LOVE hearing your experience on it. Same with your pregnancy. We've all read your lovely writing for years now and I am so looking forward to following along in this newest adventure! I've had 2 myself and my sister is due with her 4th, but watching and reading about your's is still so enchanting. Honestly, don't hold back Holly!

I think there is literally nothing that you could write about that I wouldn't find lovely and adorable and not in an Anne Hathaway cloying kind of way. As I mentioned in a previous post's comment, Im pregnant with my third and I'm still enjoying reading about your pregnancy experience and so excited for you to meet your little one!

So glad you are feeling better, and I don't think I even said congrats yet, so CONGRATULATIONS! I literally did a double-take when I noticed your new pinboard, and rushed straight to my (oft-neglected) google reader to see your news. So exciting, and I cried reading the announcement! I love your pics in all different places, and will definitely be stealing this idea someday. Like others, I am also quite impressed with your numbers-holding ability! :) Cheers!

I think you could write about paint drying and I would throughly enjoy it. Plus you and the numbers? Cutest!

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Rebecca Feb 27, 2013

You look amazing! Your stories remind me so much of mine - I also randomly developed a craving for chocolate milk, and the saltines! SO MANY SALTINES. I went through multiple Costco boxes of saltines during my pregnancy - they were on my nightstand every night, along with a giant Tervis tumbler of crushed ice and water. So happy for you, and love to read about your experience.

So happy you are feeling well these days! My big aversion was anything sweet. It completely blindsided me because anyone that knows me, knows I am a sweet-o-holic. It went away for the most part by the 3rd trimester, but I still can't eat Skittles or any of the sugar candy. Chocolate, on the other hand.... :)

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EBH Feb 27, 2013

Didn't read all the comments, so I don't know if anyone else noticed, but I thought it was super funny when I got onto Pinterest this weekend and saw all your pregnancy/baby pins, which you've probably been hoarding in a secret board. Where you happy to be able to finally share? ;>

Btw, you do look totally cute pregnant. And lol at "art of bawling while barfing!" Although now that I've laughed, it will probably happen to me.

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elizabeth Feb 27, 2013

LOVE how you're doing the weekly pics. You look fabulous!
Everyone's pregnancy experience is different. My two were radically different. So, you sort of are the first. Don't let anyone stop you from reveling in all the firsts you will have.
I'm excited for you. Thank you for letting me read along for the ride.

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Ellen Feb 27, 2013

You look fabulous! My daughter is 4 months and I had the same exact pregnancy diet first trimester (basically carbs, orange juice and chocolate milk.) I also craved sugar. I rarely eat candy or refined sugar, but pregnant all I wanted was jelly beans and red vines. It was thrilling when veggies became palatable again! Glad you are feeling better again. Pregnancy is such a wonderful, weird and difficult thing all at once. I'm happy you're doing updates!

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Käthe Feb 27, 2013

Three sittings, but I made it!
I vote grapefruits THEE most important food of pregnancy. Eat as many as you can, for as long as you can, with the pith on as much as you can stand. It'll keep your bag of waters from breaking prematurely (a very good thing!). Both my waters didn't break until the last second and both labors were easy (the last one being nearly pain-free thanks to all that water!). And that's the end of my unsolicited advice.
I wish you a happy rest of your weeks. It is so short, and so long, and so lovely, it really is.

So glad to ear you're feeling better! I threw up until 21 weeks - it was rough. And the dreams about consuming alcohol! I had forgotten about those until you brought it up. I would wake up feeling so guilty!

You look beautiful! Keep the updates coming, can't have enough.
In the first trimester all I could eat without feeling queasy was toast with almond butter. I am so glad you are feeling better and can now eat everything. I had morning (and afternoon) sickness until the third trimester.

Love the weekly pictures with the numbers. Simple but really cute! You look great and I'm glad to hear you're feeling better!
My first 1st trimester was notable for me being more tired than anyone has ever been in the history of the world. Well, that and eating a king size Kit Kat for breakfast damn near every day. Whoops.

You look amazing...my second pregnancy was filled with grapefruits also!! I threw up during both of them almost the whole time. I didn't do the crackers though I felt like I would throw up if I did. Didn't have a belly band but I was so discouraged that the maternity clothing in target etc. had short pants they were never long enough and I'm on 5'4" this caused me to break down and cry my eyes out more than once. I bought a few pairs of nice maternity jeans at Motherhood and never looked back during my second pregnancy. My boys are 18 and 20 now but reading your update reminded me of things. Keep us updated...you look beautiful and glowing!!!

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kathleenicanrah Feb 27, 2013

you look so great! what a wonderful photo series. I kind of want there to be underwater shots and a "where's the bump going next?" feel. so glad you are feeling better, and can't wait for the next installment.

this is so much fun! keep 'em coming ;) and glad you're feeling better.

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Kristin H Feb 27, 2013

I kept wearing jeans far too long when I was pregnant. One night I had this dream about tan maternity pants from Target and when I woke up, I couldn't get over how wonderful I had felt in those pants. I drove to Target straightaway, bought the pants, and never looked back. :-) Love the updates. Don't feel like you need to be brief at all!

OK, you are the cutest pregnant woman in all the land (glad to hear you're feeling better!). And also, your hair looks amazing in all of these pictures.

54

lindsayc Feb 27, 2013

You look adorable. And save feeling very, very pregnant for when you can't see your knees while sitting in a chair. That boggles the mind. Then again, I was all baby out front with both my boys. Enjoy feeling better!

My experience with the first trimester was just like yours. Nothing sounds good, ever! But eating makes you feel 100 times better, so you suffer through it and eat whatever you want. I am also coffee averse until 3 or so months postpartum, but then I have to have coffee!

You look adorable, by the way, and I am very excited to read about this soon to be here baby.

Congratulations! You look super cute and happy! I am commenting because I LOVE the way I eat grapefruits and am always happy to pass it along. Please note that pretty much anyone who has seen me eat a grapefruit has never seemed to adopt my method. ANYWAY, peel a grapefruit. Then, break it apart into segments. At the apex of the segment, split the pithy covering with your fingers. Next, peel down the covering on both sides down to the base. Finally, hold it up to your mouth and eat the pithless segment. You sort of have to bite/slurp it out of the base so you don't eat the outer pith. Does this make sense? It is delicious but slightly messy. And I'm guessing not that attractive or civilized appearing.

I've never been pregnant, and I've never peeled a grapefruit, so I can neither empathize with you, nor offer any advice. I just have one question...I'm pretty good at spotting a photoshopped image, even when others cannot, so I'm *pretty* certain those week numbers are not photoshopped. But I'm just wondering...are they foam or something that folds up really small? Or did you just travel to Germany and Sonoma...and your doctor's office...with some huge numbers in your bag?? Either way, it's a refreshingly different way of doing the weekly photos, and I think it's cute!

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Leanne Feb 27, 2013

Woah, girl, you did pop at week 18-- hoooooorrrraaaaaayyyyyy!!!! My (first) son is now eight months, and I remember thinking I totally looked pregnant somewhere around week 14, but I look back now and giggle at what a skinny bitch I was. I'm glad your nausea and vomiting has subsided, they say the second trimester is the best but I honestly loved all of them, especially the third. It's just glorious to feel to feel your wee one growing so big.

Keep the updates coming!

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Leanne Feb 27, 2013

P.S.-- I totally craved citrus, too, so much, in fact, that there were several times I considered simply eating an entire lemon. The fastest way I found to peel a grapefruit is to remove the skin (they even make nifty little orange peelers; you can buy them at most grocery stores) and take each wedge, strip the fiber line from the "top" (the part of the wedge which was in the center of the fruit), slide the skin down to the pith, and arch the fruit so you can just bite off the pulp. Though I'm not above eating pith and all, you can get through several grapefruit a day this way. Not saying this is advisable, but ...

Thanks so much, everyone -- for the sweet compliments AND the grapefruit peeling techniques!

EBH: You know, I didn't even start pinning anything -- or even LOOKING at much on Pinterest -- until I announced my pregnancy here. After that, I suddenly realized there was so much I wanted to search for and pin. Didn't even think about making it a secret board before that -- duh!

Danielle: Ha! It wasn't a couples' mud bath. Can you really not do that when you're pregnant?!

Maggie: Nope, those are definitely real-life numbers, not photoshopped at all! I bought them in a craft store near my house when they were having a sale on them (99 cents each, I think?) and Sean spraypainted them with some leftover paint we had. They're made of papier-mache or something else SUPER light, so they weigh barely anything. We just took the ones we needed to Europe/Sonoma/doctor's office etc, and barely noticed we even had them.

Also, I'm glad everyone noticed my dual-number-holding skills! That was often tricky to get right. 14 was particularly impossible.

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Stacey Feb 27, 2013

I love that you bought turquoise numbers to commemorate each week. Also, you are the cutest pregnant lady I have ever seen.

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Jennifer R Feb 27, 2013

I will say that I never threw up, not once during my pregnancy. Not even in the delivery room when they were like "Yay that's a good thing!". I am so thankful for that. However, I could no longer handle the smell of coffee. It was horrible. Something about coffee repulsed me. One time I made my husband take his coffee out of the room I couldn't handle it. You look amazing and I can't wait to hear more.

65

Laura B Feb 27, 2013

I'm currently 22 weeks! Its awesome to see your week by week guide and compare. I didn't start feeling better until week 16 (I thought it was never going to end!). I second the no travel during 1st trimester. I can now say I've puked in the Oakland, SFO, Phoenix, and Houston airports. Not to mention puking mid flight. Is that part of the mile high club?

I second the vegetable thing. I was mostly a vegetarian, but starting right away, the thought of ANY kind of vegetable made me want to puke! Things that I used to love!

You are super duper adorable and I can't wait to follow along with you!

I'm not usually a commenter...but I have been addicted to your blog ever since I stumbled upon it a couple years ago. I'm thrilled for you and am loving all the updates on your growing bump. My hubs and I are just in the very early stages of "trying" and I'm dying to get the news that I've got a bun in the oven. Keep the posts coming!
Cheers!

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Mia Feb 27, 2013

Though I very rarely comment, I am today to tell you Congratulations! And, you could write about the most banal of subjects, tweezing your eyebrows or putting gas in your car, and I would savor every word of it as I really do enjoy your writing that much. Suffice to say, I am thrilled to read about your pregnancy! Glad to hear you're starting to feel better!

i popped at about 18 weeks, too. and when it happened i felt sooooo big and pregnant. little did i then know how tiny and cute that little bump was...
you look great. and i look forward to all the pregnancy posts.

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April Feb 27, 2013

Such cute photos and what great stories you'll be able to tell this little one about the places you visited while pregnant! My wife was a vegetarian when she got pregnant with our first....well until a rather humorous scene involving a giant turkey leg and a RenFest. I'll never forget coming home from work toward the end of the first trimester and being greeted by a very angry pregnant lady demanding I cook her not one, but TWO hamburger patties RIGHT NOW (she didn't really know how to cook them for herself). Enjoy the weird cravings, that's also a fun story for Jr. My mom craved chili dogs and milkshakes while pregnant with me, so I blame her for my fast food addiction. ;-)

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kim Feb 27, 2013

The old wives' tales would say your cravings indicate a girl. But, those silly old wives have been known to be wrong.

Congratulations! You look super cute and happy! I am commenting because I
LOVE the way I eat grapefruits and am always happy to pass it along. Please
note that pretty much anyone who has seen me eat a grapefruit has never
seemed to adopt my method. ANYWAY, peel a grapefruit. Then, break it apart
into segments. At the apex of the segment, split the pithy covering with
your fingers. Next, peel down the covering on both sides down to the base.
Finally, hold it up to your mouth and eat the pithless segment. You sort of
have to bite/slurp it out of the base so you don't eat the outer pith. Does
this make sense? It is delicious but slightly messy. And I'm guessing not
that attractive or civilized appearing.

Oh, SHOOT! I'm sorry! I tried posting yesterday and kept getting the spam filter screen so I thought it hadn't posted. I mean, my method is awesome but not that epic! Argh, if only I could delete the post like on Facebook. And I promise this will be the only time I wish your blog was more like Facebook!

Can I just say in non-pregnancy related news that your hair is looking GREAT. For years I have done the grow my hair out only to cut it into a short bob after it gets just below my shoulders cycle. I am in the grow-out phase and your pictures make me want to go short again!

Chocolate milk, right? I KNOW!!! It basically kept me alive during weeks 8-20 of three pregnancies. (That, and Phenergan.) My bumps all turned out to be girls, and if your does as well I think we might be on to some Chocolate Milk Scientific Breakthrough.

So glad to read you're feeling well and happy to see you looking so cute. Keep the updates coming!

holy moly i died laughing at this. I am currently looking at my 8 week old (our first!) asleep in the bouncy seat and just about everything you listed was me all the way! I am a vegetarian and couldnt handle veggies in the first trimester at all! I was so thankful for the prenatal vitamins or my poor baby would have been deformed from lack of nutrients. I craved the grapefruit too. sometimes i ate two a day! The peeing will get less frequent until the end when you will be running to the bathroom from the sudden urge. Im so excited to follow your journey! Enjoy it because it will go so fast! I can barely remember the pregnancy now!

Oh, vegetable aversions. I started feeling queasy with my 2nd (a girl, by the way) *right* around the time our vegetable garden started producing. I couldn't look at it, let alone harvest it. A friend took pity on me, hauled off all my zucchini, shredded it, and returned it to me to freeze.

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lindsay Feb 28, 2013

this absolutely made my day, holly! thank you for sharing! My food aversions and cravings were spot on with yours. However, I craved dairy like it was about to leave the planet forever. I wanted milk shakes, pudding, and Blizzards NON-STOP! Yum. Congratulations!!! You are a lovely mama!

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Mert Mar 01, 2013

My mom likes to retell her pregnancy stories....like when my dad came home and found 1 slice of watermelon (almost 40 years ago now). He said, 'Oh, I didn't know they sold watermelon by the slice', and which point my mother burst into tears and confessed that they didn't, she had eaten the whole watermelon except for that 1 piece! Also, she couldn't drink coffee when pregnant with me (and could with her other two pregnancies), and to this day I am the only family member who abhors the smell and taste of coffee!!
So excited for you and can't wait to read more updates! Keep 'em coming.

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Alison Mar 01, 2013

GRAPEFRUITS: Cut in half, cut the half in half...cut the half in quarters. Cut off that weird white part and seeds and filet the pulp from the skin like you would filet a fish. You will have beautiful chunks of grapefruit.

If you are feeling fancy, sprinkle with sugar and broil for a minute. tastes like candy.

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honeypops Mar 01, 2013

You? Asking us to indulge your pregnancy ramblings? We should be the ones begging you not to deprive us from your stories! Thank you for sharing all the fascinating and personal details!

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jobonga Mar 01, 2013

I'm going to go ahead and assume that's a full body leotard you're wearing in your belly shots. Excellent choice - you look fantastic even when you don't feel good.

Picturing a leotard just out of frame got me thinking about how hilarious/terrifying it would be for someone to do all of her belly shots dressed like a mime with white gloves and everything. I choose not to do a Google image search.

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Niobe19 Mar 01, 2013

Oh Holly congrats to you & Sean. And I bet your parents and family were over the moon about the new little babe. You will be splendid parents. Are you going to find out the sex of your child? Excited beyond words for you!!!!!!!!!

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Anna Mar 01, 2013

Ha ha! I'm 29 weeks, and I'm STILL having guilt dreams about accidentally drinking! In these dreams, I'm out at a bar doing shots like I'm in college. You're not alone with that one.

I was really nauseous at the thought of vegetables in my pregnancy as well. Also ginger. Someone gave me a candied ginger thing which made me heave so much that I still give ginger the side eye to this happy non-pregnant day two years later.

I wish you all the best for the rest of it an I hope there will be more updates because they are enjoyable to read.